By JARROD POTTER
WNBL – Round 12
FIVE wins in a row were made all that much sweeter for the Dandenong Rangers on Saturday with an upset 92-87 victory over WNBL league-leader Townsville.
Dandenong would have been able to set their own odds of upsetting the WNBL’s number-one ranked side Townsville at its home court on Saturday night as the Rangers continue to undo the damage of slipping to last place in Round 5.
Townsville – led by tall tandem Suzy Batkovic (30 points, 14 rebounds) and Cayla Francis (18 points, 10 rebounds) – on the other hand had been unstoppable as it claimed eight-from-eight at home this season… that is before Dandenong showed up in peak form.
A 30-point second term cemented Dandenong’s early lead before the visitors pushed out to a 12-point buffer through the third term. It would come down to a battle between Dandenong’s rampaging guards and Townsville’s tall timber.
Tegan Cunningham (6 points, 9 rebounds) and Annalise Pickrel (4 points, 6 rebounds) battled bravely to hold off Batkovic and Francis in the defensive end, leaving the offensive work to the Rangers’ star trio – Penny Taylor, Cappie Pondexter and Kathleen Macleod.
It was a guard master-class on court as Penny Taylor (23 points, 8 rebounds) and Kathleen Macleod (23 points) found their form beyond the three-point arc.
Cappie Pondexter (23 points, 4 assists) celebrated her birthday this week with another powerhouse performance – including the match-sealing three-pointer late in the fourth term – to notch her fourth 20-plus point game for the season.
Townsville outscored Dandenong in the final term to launch one final assault on maintaining its home-town record, but in the end the Rangers had too many weapons from beyond the perimeter.
Shooting at nearly 50 per cent from three-pointer proved the difference as Dandenong outclassed Townsville from long-range.
The last nail in Townsville’s unbeaten home season came from Cunningham, who tipped in the game-winner to give Dandenong its best win heading into its final six rounds of the 2014/15 season.
With the streak increasing Dandenong’s record to 9-7, the Rangers have flown up the WNBL ladder into fourth and will host Bendigo on Friday night from 7.30pm in their next uphill battle.
